Apple Cider Stew

Just in time for fall:

1 Lb Beef cut in cubes                                                   2 Tsp Salt

  8 Carrots, Sliced Thinly                                               1/2 Tsp Thyme

  6 Potatoes, Sliced Thinly                                              2 Tbl Onion, Minced

  2 Apples, Chopped                                                     2 C Apple Cider

Place carrots, potatoes, and apples in crock pot. Add meat and sprinkle with salt, thyme, and onion. Pour cider over meat and cover. Cook on low heat 10-12 hours. Thicken gravy.

Cherry Tomato Marinara

If you grow cherry tomatoes, you probably have a lot right now and don't know what to do with them.  I say, make sauce.

Toss tomatoes with olive oil to coat and put in the bottom of a glass oven safe dish.  Aluminum should not be used as it can flavor the sauce.  Top tomatoes with minced garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and basil (this is to taste - additional spice can be added later, if necessary).  Roast in a 400 degree oven until skins start to crack. 

Remove from the oven and run through a food mill to remove the seeds and skins.  Put the resulting sauce on the stove and add 1/3 cup white wine for each cup of tomato sauce.  Taste the sauce and add spices to your liking.  Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes.

Refrigerate sauce up to one week, freeze the sauce or can the sauce.

Tap & Track

How many times have you heard the following:

"If you write down everything you eat, it will help you lose weight."

Yeah, but who wants to carry around a notebook?  Even when I used a paper planning system, it was a pain to take it everywhere and how did I know what I was eating, calorie wise, if I was out and it wasn't on the menu.  Along came my iPhone and the Tap & Track application.  There it was - calorie information at my fingertips.  I have lost 19 pounds in the last year (no, I am not fanatic, but I put it on over 12 years, slow coming off is okay, too).

Turkey Bake

 1.5 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese,                                      1 Cups Mayonnaise, Can Use Light

  -Shredded                                                                        1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

  1 Tablespoon Flour                                                        1/2 Teaspoon Dried Oregano

  16 Ounce Turkey, Cooked And Chopped                      1/4 Teaspoon Salt

  1 Cups Celery, Sliced                                                     1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper

  1 Cups Carrot, Sliced                                                     1/2 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix 1 cup cheese with flour.  Add turkey, celery, carrots, mayonnaise, lemon juice and seasonings.  Mix and put into a 9 by 13 baking dish or oven safe dish that will hold the mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

  Bake 30 - 35 minutes.

Angel Food Cake

Don't let this cake intimidate you - it is easy to do with a little patience.  Just ask my niece, who was here the second time I made it and reminded me that I said I would never do it again.

1 3/4 Cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 Cup cake flour, sifted
12 egg whites (the closer to room -temperature the better)
1/3 Cup warm water
1 tsp orange extract, or extract of your choice
1 1/2 Tsp cream of tartar

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a food processor spin sugar about 2 minutes until it is superfine. Sift*** half of the sugar with the salt the cake flour, setting the remaining sugar aside. In a large bowl combine combine remaining sugar, egg whites, water, orange extract, and cream of tartar.  With a hand mixer, mix on low for 2 minutes then switch to high speed. Switch to a hand mixer until you have achieved medium peaks.  Sift 1/4 of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Repeat 3 more times.  Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. (When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry).

Cool upside down on cooling rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.


***If you do not own a sifter, use a fine mesh screen/strainer to sprinkle the flour, it works just as well.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

30 oz Black Beans - Rinsed and Drained
6    Ears Corn,Lightly Steamed - and removed from ear  ***
6    Roma Tomatoes,Seeded & Diced
1/2    Red Onion,Chopped
4    Clove Garlic,Minced
2    Limes,Juiced (or 1/4 cup lime juice)
1/4 C Olive Oil
1/4 C Cilantro,Finely  Chopped
2 t  Cumin
      Salt,To Taste
      Pepper,To Taste
      Frank's Red Hot,To Taste

Mix together and refrigerate 1-2 hours before serving.

*** May substitute 16 oz frozen corn